The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 4

Internal Whistleblower (2)

“Text? What text? I only see the wallpaper right now.”

I wondered if I had touched the screen wrong and exited, so I checked my phone, but a video was playing on the screen.

“Stop joking around and look. It’s serious.”

The voices of Jung Jae-won and Im Seong-jin began to play from the phone.

Despite this, Shin Yong-ho looked at me, tilting his head with a completely clueless expression.

“What am I supposed to be looking at?”

His eyes were wide open.

His face showed no sign of anything wrong.

But he can’t see it?

Am I seeing things?

I rubbed my eyes and checked again, but the sound of the video was still playing, and the screen was playing as before.

Even with the volume turned up to the maximum, Shin Yong-ho’s reaction was the same.

Something’s wrong.

“I’ll send it to you.”

I saved the video, captured the text message screen, and went into the gallery to send it to him.

What?

How did this happen?

The video I saved isn’t there.

I clearly clicked the save button, but the video had disappeared from the gallery, and the photo I just captured only showed the wallpaper with a few applications open.

“What the heck is this…”

Unable to hide my embarrassment, I immediately checked the text message inbox and call history, but there was no record of any messages.

This can’t be happening.

I’ve felt like someone knows my private life since the last time.

I have no idea who it is.

I don’t know anything.

It’s the first time in my life that my head hasn’t been working this badly.

Shin Yong-ho’s voice cut through the gaps in my mind, which were filled with all sorts of worries.

“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard? Do you want to rest a bit?”

“I definitely saw a text with my own two eyes just now…”

I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“No, it’s nothing.”

My head starts to throb.

“I’m just going out for a smoke.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“It’s okay. Just wait here and don’t contact Professor Jung Jae-won, okay?”

“Okay.”

I went out to the rooftop alone, lit a cigarette, and began to think.

The same situation as last time.

I clearly received a text message then, but it disappeared without a trace.

This time, Shin Yong-ho can’t even see it, so it’s even more serious.

The thought that it might be a malicious application or a hacking program crossed my mind, but if that were the case, I would be able to see it, and Shin Yong-ho wouldn’t.

Am I just too tired from working overtime every day? Is that why I’m hallucinating?

That can’t be it.

I’ve been working for this long, there’s no way this would suddenly happen.

If it was a sudden problem with my body, it wouldn’t be limited to specific text messages.

I can’t save it, I can’t capture it, and no one else can even see it.

Only I can see it clearly.

Is it telling me what will happen in the future?

No, there’s no way such a supernatural phenomenon exists.

But last time, it clearly told me to contact Shin Yong-ho.

If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have contacted him, and I wouldn’t have known about this.

What the hell is it?

My head was throbbing.

I can’t possibly judge this with common sense, with my own mind.

Let’s put it down.

Let’s put this aside for now and think about it later.

There’s no way I can think properly if I think about it now.

Let’s go back to the content of the text and think about it.

To summarize the article and the conversation between the two in the video, Im Seong-jin had shifted all the blame for his corruption onto Shin Yong-ho.

Professor Jung Jae-won probably gave Im Seong-jin the information that we were going to attack.

But why?

Why did that righteous professor suddenly do that?

No.

The image he showed in front of the students was just for show, and his inner self might have been different.

More than anything, Jung Jae-won’s sinister expression when he received the card key was enough to make me frown even when I thought about it again.

Is the image in the video his hidden true self?

I don’t know.

The only time I’ve ever met him privately was when I met him with friends in school.

If that video is true, why would Professor Jung Jae-won leak information to Im Seong-jin?

I was able to guess the reason for this without much thought.

Im Seong-jin brought up the connection that he was a senior at Korea University to ask about the Gwangju Mayor’s corruption case and took Shin Yong-ho into his line.

In other words, Im Seong-jin is also a graduate of Korea University.

As the video said, Im Seong-jin is also Jung Jae-won’s student.

Moreover, Professor Jung Jae-won probably feels that Im Seong-jin, who is becoming more and more popular as a star prosecutor, is much more precious than ordinary prosecutors like us.

In addition, it seems that there was even a secret deal between the two, so there is nothing more to say.

But how did he know it was Shin Yong-ho?

Even if I meet Professor Jung Jae-won and talk to him, I wouldn’t have revealed his identity or said that I was trying to hit Im Seong-jin like a foolish bear.

However, if Professor Jung Jae-won already had a connection with Im Seong-jin, he may also know that he abandoned Shin Yong-ho as a way to cut off his tail.

And since he knows that Shin Yong-ho and I have been close friends since our school days, he may have been able to grasp the situation and realize that it was a story about Im Seong-jin and pass it on.

If so, it’s an even scarier story.

Im Seong-jin may have expanded his connections more than I imagined.

How can I create a situation where I can bring him down?

A cold wind blew and cooled my head, but no plausible ideas came to mind.

I worked hard to find another way, but in the end, I started chain-smoking out of frustration, and soon Shin Yong-ho came out and stood next to me, leaning against the railing.

“Why are you chain-smoking?”

“I just lit one, you idiot.”

“Put out the embers on the floor and stop lying.”

“Ah.”

He smiled and looked away.

“I just found Professor Jung Jae-won’s contact information. I’ve already sent it to your phone.”

“Really?”

“Should we contact him?”

No.

If we contact him, Shin Yong-ho might really collapse.

I’m not sure that the text message is actually going to happen, but there’s no guarantee that Professor Jung Jae-won doesn’t have a connection with Im Seong-jin.

Now, we need to choose a sure path, even if it’s rough, rather than choosing a smooth and easy path.

“No. I think it’s better to find another way.”

“Suddenly? You said it was okay earlier.”

“I’ve been thinking about it, and Im Seong-jin is also a graduate of Korea University. Even if it’s Professor Jung Jae-won, he’s still the same student.”

“Would it be a problem even if we don’t reveal that it’s Im Seong-jin?”

“How quick-witted is he? We don’t know what will happen. Let’s put it on hold for now.”

“Okay.”

He nodded as if he understood.

“It’s not urgent, so we should take our time and be careful.”

“Thank you. You’re going to so much trouble even though it’s not your job.”

“Your job is my job, and it will be my job in the future. How can I do it half-heartedly when my friend is trying to climb up by cutting off my neck?”

“…Thank you.”

I smiled and patted Shin Yong-ho on the back.

“Go downstairs. I’ll go down after I finish smoking.”

“Okay.”

After he went down, I spent a long time thinking and smoked three more cigarettes before I organized my thoughts.

There’s no need to cross a stone bridge, but we need to check whether the stone bridge is dangerous or safe.

I took out my phone and called Professor Jung Jae-won.

After a long ringing, he answered the phone.

-Yes, this is Jung Jae-won.

“Hello, Professor. This is Choi Seo-joon. Class of ’08, assigned to the Gwangju District Prosecutor’s Office…”

-Oh, Seo-joon. I remember!

Professor Jung Jae-won greeted me in his unique rough voice.

-Are you doing well?

“Yes, I’m doing well and healthy. How have you been, Professor?”

-I’m always doing well. Is there anything wrong with your work?

“Yes, there is. Except for working overtime every day.”

-Hahaha, prosecutors in our country have a lot of trouble.

I can’t bring up the story about Im Seong-jin to him.

Even mentioning it could be suspicious.

-Are you still at the Gwangju District Prosecutor’s Office?

“Yes, I am. I should visit you sometime, but I don’t have time because it’s in the countryside. I’m sorry.”

-What are you sorry for? Don’t overdo it and take it easy while thinking about your health. Come visit me if you come to Seoul.

“I understand.”

So far, it’s a normal conversation between a teacher and a student.

The following is the main point.

“But, Professor.”

I tapped on the stone bridge.

“Is your daughter doing well? I remember you introduced me to her when I was in school and said she was preparing for law school.”

-Ah, I remember. I think I helped her because she was preparing for an interview?

“Yes, that’s right. I still remember your daughter because she was so pretty.”

-Hahahaha, thank you. My daughter also entered the law school at Korea University and is preparing for the bar exam. This year is the last bar exam, so I told her not to overdo it and prepare for law school, but she’s still trying to take the exam.

Exam!

In the video, Im Seong-jin clearly handed over data related to the exam.

Could that exam have been related to the bar exam?

He was capable enough to leak the bar exam papers.

Im Seong-jin may be a more dangerous person than I imagined.

There are many things I’m curious about, but I had to step back because I knew that stepping on the stone bridge would cause it to sink.

“Ah, I see. I wish you all the best.”

-Thank you. Take care of yourself and stay healthy.

“Yes, I will definitely visit you. Goodbye!”

-Okay.

With those words, he hung up the phone.

Professor Jung Jae-won may think that I just called to say hello, but I found out a lot of information.

The video I saw in the text message is somewhat reliable, and Professor Jung Jae-won still doesn’t know that Shin Yong-ho and I are preparing to hit Im Seong-jin.

In other words, this text message was not sent by someone who is targeting me and threatening me.

I don’t know the identity of the text message, but I could get a sense of how dangerous Professor Jung Jae-won is.

I have to find another way, not Professor Jung Jae-won.

A safe and sure way.